A 22 year old single teacher just starting out in his/her 1st band director job in 1970 could buy a 3 bedroom house. One income. A 22 year old single band director today cannot. Same job, same age, same education, 750 credit score, no credit card debt. That's the argument. It's a correct argument.

The "millenials/zoomers are lazy" narrative is usually presented as a very vague and generic argument on social media. The fact that millenials/zoomers are choosing jobs with more work/life balance, are choosing degrees in fields with no demand (gender studies, philosophy)...it's easy to be convinced they're lazier. But when it's actually presented with an argument more close to home...when it's actually broken down for you variable by variable and shown to you that "1st year teachers can no longer afford houses", you dig your heels in, deferring instead to your own personal anecdotes "Well, I pay this much and I somehow made it work...so suck it up!".

Yeah, it CAN work under certain circumstances. Maybe you marry someone with more money, maybe you inherit a nice estate to help with the down payment, maybe you save up for 10 years.... but it shouldn't require special circumstances to make happen, it should just BE the norm...like it used to be.